Who: Peter and Gabriella What: A walk on the beach leads to a chance encounter Where: The beach When: Thursday morning, around 9 Rating: PG-13 Status: Complete
Gabriella was on the beach, sitting in the sand. She was very pale. She'd thrown up almost all day yesterday and she hadn't eaten since. She was not looking well at all. She thought getting out for a bit might help her, but now she was just sitting in the sand looking out at the water. She felt sick still, the events of yesterday played in her mind. It was obvious she was torturing herself over it. It hadn't been what she wanted at all, but in the end she'd given in. She was such a weak little girl. Always would be. She didn't want to hurt a fly if she could help it. Her father had always wanted her to be more…to be special.
A tear rolled down her cheek, she didn't want to live like this…and she was afraid of what might happen now. Surely Peter would be looking for revenge. And. . .Gabbi couldn't lose Petra. She was a monster, but Gabriella cared about her. Petra was all that Gabriella had.
Peter didn't sleep well at all the night before, and it showed in the dark circles under his eyes and the dull look in his eyes. He carefully slipped out of bed, being very quiet so as not to disturb Gabriel, who was in the bathroom, taking a shower. Neither of them had gotten very much sleep last night; Peter because of nightmares, and Gabe because he'd been plotting revenge against Petra. Peter knew that, of course, because he'd read Gabe's mind, and a few times, he'd faked having a nightmare just to distract his lover.
Sighing, Peter grabbed his jeans and pulled them on, picked up a t-shirt and did the same. He needed to get out of that room, even if it was only for a little while. Maybe some fresh air would clear his head, make him stop seeing her every time he closed his eyes.
He went into the bathroom and splashed water on his face, and then headed out to the beach, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. He came to an abrupt halt as he saw Gabriella sitting in the sand, and he felt his stomach flip flop. He swallowed heavily and tried to shake off the feeling. It wasn't her fault. She hadn't wanted to hurt him. "Gabriella, right?" he said quietly as he came up behind her.
Gabriella was filled with guilt and remorse for what she had done. It had been forced but she'd still done it. She couldn't stop seeing his brain in her mind. It made her feel sick all over again. She'd be throwing up if she'd eaten anything. The voice from behind her startled her from her dazed state. It was him. Pangs of guilt tugged at her conscience, but she was still smart enough to stand up and run from him, as fast as she could, though part of her knew she deserved whatever he was gonna do to her.
Peter blinked when she was suddenly running from him, but then, he guessed that he shouldn't have been too surprised. Yesterday had been a rather traumatic ordeal, and she probably thought that he was out for revenge. "Wait!" he called out after her before shaking his head and giving chase. When he got close, he reached out and grabbed her elbow, jerking her to a stop. "I don't want to hurt you!"
Gabbi should have known that she would not be able to outrun him, should have known he would catch her. She was scared, but she knew this would happen. She'd hurt him. She'd taken his power. He probably didn't care that Petra had made her. And then all of a sudden he had her by the arm, and there was nowhere she could run to. He was strong. He didn't want to hurt her? She turned her head to look at him with confusion.
Peter licked his lips, looking down at the girl. Man, she looked so young, so scared. "I'm going to let your arm go, okay?" he said in a soft, calming voice. "I promise that I'm not going to hurt you, so please don't run away. I just want to talk to you."
Gabriella nodded, though she was still shaking. Thanks to Petra, she was scared of well...almost everyone. She probably reminded Peter of some kind of abused girlfriend or something. "I'm...so so sorry." she told him softly, her voice barely above a whisper.
"It wasn't your fault." Peter said quietly with a shake of his head as he dropped his hand from her arm. "I know that you didn't want to do it, that Petra made you." He glanced down at his feet, sighing a little. "It's my fault anyway. After last time, I should've known not to let my guard down."
He didn't blame her, but she still blamed herself. She was feeling strange now. Very strange. "I still did it..." It didn't matter to her that she didn't want to. She didn't like the way she was feeling now, and when she looked down at her hands, they'd started to glow. She took a few steps back, growing more afraid as she looked at her hands starting to glow brighter. What was happening to her?
Peter sighed and raked his fingers through his hair, and then frowned deeply as he saw her hands starting to glow. "Shit." he hissed. He licked his lips, lowering his hand. He didn't want to alarm the girl and frighten her more, but he couldn't just let her continue to glow. "Gabriella, you've got to calm down." He tried to keep his voice as calm and steady as possible.
Calm down? How could she calm down? Her hands were glowing. Her fear and anxiety were making it worse and she couldn't stop shaking. She took in a few deep breaths, allowing herself to calm a little. Her hands returned to normal but she felt dizzy and started falling towards the sand.
Peter tried to send her soothing vibes, hoping that maybe they'd help her calm down. He didn't want to have to punch her. He knew that would work, Claude had done that to him, after all, but she was just a kid. He'd do it if he had no other alternative though. Luckily, her hands finally stopped glowing and Peter breathed a sigh of relief. His eyes widened a little as she started to fall and he lunged forward, catching her in his arms. "Whoa, easy there." he said gently He frowned and shook his head. "This is my fault. You're absorbing my powers."
"Why are you helping me?" Gabriella asked. She'd taken his power. And now she couldn't handle them all going into her like this. This would have happened yesterday, with Petra but she was so sick and Petra hadn't bothered much with her. Her stomach hurt like hell. She didn't know how Peter could control it...so many abilities. Gabriella could not handle it, and she was so scared. This must be her punishment for what she did to him.
"Because it's not fair to you that you be subjected to all of this." Peter said quietly. "You can't learn how to control these powers by yourself. You need help, and that's what I'm here for. I helped Veronica, I can help you too."
Gabbi nodded, trying to feel a little better about all this. "Petra won't let you help me." she told him seriously. Petra wouldn't even like that Gabbi was talking to him now. Gabbi belonged to her, she was given to the blue haired woman as a gift.
"She doesn't have to know." Peter said. He shook his head and licked his lips. "I can't leave you with her, not when she makes you do things like that against your will. She's. . .well, psycho."
"She will never let you take me from her." Gabriella told him. "I'm hers you know, her father gave me to her, as a present."
Peter blinked, looking startled. "What? That's. . .that's sick! You're a human being! Nobody has the right to give a person another person as a present!" He frowned deeply and then looked confused. "Wait, her father?" His eyes widened. "Arthur Petrelli is alive in your world?"
"It doesn't matter. I belong to her." She told him, shaking her head. "She will never let you take me from her." She repeated. "I know she's...different but...I care about her. She takes care of me." She nodded. "Yes, and he gave me to her. I've been with her ever since."
Peter wasn't sure which part sickened him more, the fact that Arthur Petrelli had willingly given Gabriella to Petra or that Gabriella was so determined to stay with her. "She's not different, she's psychotic." he snapped. "You. . .Gabriella, she uses you. She isn't capable of caring about you. You shouldn't have to live like that. It isn't right." He frowned, not even remotely wanting to deal with the fact that in some fucked up parallel universe, his father was still alive, and apparently felt something for his daughter. It was obvious that Petra wasn't ignored by her father, unlike Peter. He licked his lips, frowning slightly. "What about. . .Angela Petrelli?"
"My father always wanted me to be different." She told him. "Special. My mom left when I was young... Arthur gave me to Petra two years ago. I was 15. I know you all hate her, but I've been with her so long..." Gabbi didn't know how to be on her own. "You're going to kill her, aren't you?" She asked, her voice laced with fear and regret. When he asked about Angela, she frowned. "I think...she died a long time ago, way before I knew Petra."
"My lover's got dibs on the killing her part." Peter said quietly. He licked his lips, frowning. So, Petra's mother was dead and her father was alive, the exact opposite of him. He wondered if she would've turned out the same if her mother had lived. Would he be like her if he hadn't had his mother's presence in his life? "You don't have to stay with her. Her father isn't here and there are ways to stop her. We could keep you safe."
"You should just kill me too." Gabbi said. Petra was all she had. Gabbi didn't know how to live without her. She was crying now. "It's not that easy..." she told him. "I've been with her for two years." She knew it sounded crazy, but she couldn't help caring about Petra. And they were going to kill her. She knew she had to be stopped but she was still sad about it.
Great, now Peter had made the girl cry. He felt like a complete louse but what was he supposed to do? Petra needed to be stopped before she hurt somebody else. So far, they'd been lucky and all her tortures had been done to someone who could heal, but how long would that last? What would set her off and send her after a nonhealing person? "I'm sorry." he said quietly. "Killing Petra has to be done. She has to be stopped."
"Yeah." Gabriella said softly. She didn't want Petra hurting anyone. But she didn't want her to die either. She did have to be stopped. But no one really knew Petra, it couldn't be her fault that she was so messed up. She wiped the tears from her eyes, god she was pathetic.
Peter frowned, watching her for a moment, and then hesitantly moved forward, folding his arms around her. He imagined that she didn't get much affection from people who weren't psychos, and she just looked like she could use a hug right then. Plus, his empathic ability was kicking in, and he was feeling what she was feeling. He closed his eyes, willing down the urge to cry, knowing that it was coming from her, not him. He'd spent so many years trying to shut off that power and had finally succeeded, only to have it jumpstarted again by Gabe. He didn't really mind though; being with Gabe was worth feeling again.
Gabriella let him hug her, but she felt so defeated. They were going to kill Petra, she didn't really have a reason to go on after that. When Petra was gone, she would be too. Somehow. She was so scared for Petra, but she knew it had to be done. "I'm...really sorry for yesterday." She told him again, not wanting to think about what she was gonna do after Petra was dead. She would die too. Somehow.
"I know." Peter said quietly, smoothing his hand down her back. "I'm sorry that we have to take care of Petra, but you don't have. . .we can help you start over, Gabriella. You don't have to die just because she's gone."
There was no starting over for her. It didn't work like that, but she just nodded. She didn't want him to know what she was thinking about.
Peter sighed and frowned. "I know what you're thinking." he muttered softly. "I can read minds. That's another power."
"Why does it matter?" Gabbi asked. "As long as she's gone, it doesn't matter what happens to me, so don't try to stop me." At least it would finally be over.
Peter frowned deeply and shook his head. "Because you're still a person and it does matter what happens to you." he said. He raked his fingers through his hair, wondering how badly this poor girl had been fucked with to make her think like that.
"it doesn't matter to me." Gabriella said. She was really messed up, especially to care for Petra after what the woman had done to her. "You do what you have to, and so will I."
Peter sighed, shaking his head, saddened at the thought of Gabriella killing herself over Petra. "I'm sorry." he said quietly. "I really wish you'd reconsider that." As if he was really going to let her do that to herself. He'd keep an eye on her.
She whimpered a little. "I know you think it's messed up." She started. "But she's all I have." She didn't expect him to understand, and she knew that Petra needed to be stopped. But where would that leave Gabbi?
"But see, that's the beauty of being human." Peter said with a shake of his head. "Sometimes you get a second chance at things. You can start over, have a new life. I know it won't be easy, but it would be better than just giving up." He frowned, looking at her. "You're not even going to try. You're just throwing in the towel."
"Why do you care?" Gabbi asked him, tears streaming down her face again. "Why do you care what happens to me? As long as she's gone..." She didn't understand people actually caring like this. She was just no one her whole life and then she was Petra's, but at least that was something. "I don't know what to do...without her." And how could she start over anyway? She didn't know most of the people here. And knowing what she'd done...who she was, they weren't likely to want to be her friend.
"I care because you're not to blame for this." Peter said. "You're not like Petra. You're a good person, Gabriella, I can sense that, and I'd hate to think of you throwing away your life because of her." He frowned and shook his head. "Humans have the amazing capacity to forgive, Gabriella."
"You're not the only one you know..." She told him shaking her head. "I've taken another ability." She said. "There was a guy that could paint the future...I can do it too now. What kind of good person can I be? He's dead..."
"Are you the one who killed him?" Peter asked. "Or was Petra standing there beside you, egging you on? She has this power to make people do whatever she wants. How do you know that she didn't use it on you then? Did you want him to die?"
"I could never kill anyone." Gabbi said softly. She was way too gentle to ever do something like that. "No, of course I didn't want him to die...but he's still dead. It's never mattered what I wanted."
"But it wasn't your fault." Peter said, shaking his head. "Gabriella, you can still be a good person. You wouldn't have to do anything that you didn't want to."
"And what if I just want to die?" Gabbi asked him, shaking her head a little. "Would you respect that and just let me die?"
Peter licked his lips and sighed, letting his shoulders slump a little. "If that is really and truly what you want.' he said quietly.
"But you think you can save me?" Gabbi asked. "Why would you even try? I'm no one." She was crying again, god she was so pathetic. Her life should just end. But maybe Peter was right, maybe she could start over. "No one understands me, or even likes me. No one but her."
"Nobody's had a chance to understand you or even get to know you, Gabriella." Peter said quietly. "You're not no one. You're Gabriella Gray, and you're just as special as anybody. You don't have to be extraordinary to matter. You're a victim of Petra, just the same as any of us. That doesn't mean you should be condemned to die."
"What am I supposed to do after?" She shook her head, looking into his eyes. "I...stole your power yesterday. It doesn't matter that I didn't want to. I did it. I'm a monster, Peter. Petra's just more upfront about it."
"She would've hurt you or something worse if you hadn't taken my power, Gabriella." Peter said softly. "I don't know but we'll figure it out."
Crying softly, she tightened her arms around Peter, almost clinging to him as she cried into his chest. She was like a broken china doll.
Peter felt so bad for the girl and he held her against him, settling down onto the sand and rocking her gently in his arms. He'd figure out something. He wouldn't let her die.
She felt so helpless, hopeless, like her life was already over. "How are you guys going to...I mean, I thought she couldn't die." She told Gabriella she couldn't die anymore. So could they really kill her? "What if...there's another way. Your friend, the little blonde...Petra erased her memories. Couldn't you do the same to her? Or something?" Or take Gabbi's memories of Petra, make it easier for her to live without her.
Peter hadn't really thought about how they were going to take care of Petra. He knew that Gabe was plotting some kind of revenge, had sensed it as his lover had paced back and forth in their room last night instead of sleeping. "I. . ." He trailed off, looking thoughtful at her suggestion. "We could, but there's the possibility that something could trigger her memories and her brain would heal, repair itself. Her memories would be restored."
"I don't know..." Gabbi said. "I just thought...maybe it would be, I don't know...a new start for her?" She shrugged. Maybe if they wiped Petra's mind, Gabbi could really be there for her and maybe things would turn out differently. She had to hope that. "Can't you try that first? Instead of killing her, please?" She was begging him, pleading with her eyes. There had to be a better way than murdering the woman.
Peter licked his lips and stared at the young woman for a long moment before finally nodding slowly. "I'll try." he said. "I can't make you any promises because there's more than just one person who wants Petra's head on a platter, but I will try your solution." He smiled softly at her. "It'll be okay, I promise."
"I should go." Gabbi said. She forced herself to her feet. "Eat something...if I can." She looked at him. "Once again, I'm sorry for what happened yesterday."
Peter smiled softly and nodded. "I should probably do the same. Gabe's probably woken up by now anyway and is wondering where I am." he said softly. "It's fine, Gabriella. You don't have to apologize. I'm not mad at you."
"Peter..." She said, pausing as she'd started to walk away. She walked back over to him and hugged him again, just a quick one. "Please, call me Gabbi."